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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two men were charged with murder Wednesday in the death of an Oakland police officer who was shot while responding to a theft report at a marijuana business, authorities said.
Charges were filed against Mark Sanders, 27, of Tracy, and Alan Starr Brown, 28, of Chico.
Both remained in jail on Wednesday night. He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday and it was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
Officer Tuan Le, 36, was shot in the head on Friday and died in hospital. Authorities said he was in plain clothes and driving an unmarked truck when he and other officers responded to a report of a burglary at a suspected illegal cannabis grow house near Jack London Square, where several hours earlier another Theft was reported.
Arriving officers said they saw several people leaving the business. Prosecutors allege that Sanders fired shots from a car with Brown inside.
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The officers took their injured colleague to hospital, where he died about four hours later.
Lay was the 54th Oakland police officer to die in the line of duty and the first officer killed in nearly 15 years.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and interim Police Chief Darren Ellison announced the arrests and charges at a news conference Wednesday night.
Price said he had told Lay’s wife and mother about the allegations and assured them that his office would do “everything within the scope of our legal power to ensure… We believe that the The man who shot and killed Officer Lay will serve others.” His life in prison.”
A third man, 30-year-old Sebron Ray Russell, has been charged with participating in the theft. It was also not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.
Sanders and Russell have criminal records. According to the East Bay Times, the two and another man pleaded no contest in 2022 to burglarizing a Pittsburgh home where marijuana was being grown and received six-month prison sentences. informed of.
The newspaper said Sanders had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a 2014 shooting that killed an 18-year-old man when he was 17.
Brown and Russell were arrested over the weekend and Sanders was arrested in Livermore on Tuesday, authorities said.
At the press conference, officials said Lay’s handcuffs were used to arrest Sanders.
Price said he told Lay’s family that his office would seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the officer’s killers.
Meanwhile, police said they are continuing to search for other theft suspects.
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